USA Today's Alan Gomez: " Senators warn that immigration bill still needs work" Key senators welcomed an agreement Sunday by business and labor that would remove a large hurdle to a major immigration overhaul, but they cautioned that much work remains to be done and that no final deal has been reached. LINK

The New York Daily News' Adam Edelman: "' Group of 8' senators say immigration reform efforts on track after key deal between labor, business groups" Less than a day after a critical agreement was reached between labor and business factions on a proposed guest worker program, a handful of U.S. senators said Sunday morning that comprehensive immigration reform appeared to be on track and could reach the Senate floor as early as May. "I am very, very optimistic that we will have an agreement among the eight of us next week," Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a member of the "Group of Eight" senators working on the details of the bill, said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." LINK

The Washington Times' David Sherfinski: " Schumer says immigration deal imminent; Rubio says not so fast" Two senators from the so-called Gang of Eight working on bipartisan immigration reform said Sunday that the rollout of a bill that can pass the chamber is imminent, but two leading Republicans called such talk "premature" and said legislation on such an important topic must not be rushed. A recently struck agreement on guest worker rules between two of the country's most influential business and labor groups marks one of the final hurdles that's been cleared on an issue President Obama has pushed to the top of his second-term agenda. LINK

The New York Times' Trip Gabriel: " New Attitude on Immigration Skips an Old Coal Town" Before Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigrants, before "self-deportation" became the Republican presidential platform in 2012, there was Hazleton. This working-class city in the Poconos passed the country's first law aimed at making life so difficult for illegal immigrants that they would pack up and leave. LINK

Politico's Mike Allen: " Marco Rubio: Reports of immigration deal 'premature'" Sen. Marco Rubio issued an Easter morning statement saying he is "encouraged" by progress in talks on immigration reform but added: "Reports that the bipartisan group of eight senators have agreed on a legislative proposal are premature." The headline of his statement, timed for release just before the Sunday talk shows: "Rubio: No Final Agreement on Immigration Legislation Yet." Rubio, whose support is crucial if the Senate's Gang of Eight is to have a deal, spoke out one day after business and union groups signed off on a temporary worker program that appeared to be the biggest remaining hurdle for Senate negotiators. LINK

STUDENT LOAN RATES The Hills' Peter Schroeder: " Students look for Obama's help as deadline looms on loan rate hike" Democrats and student advocates are looking for President Obama to rejoin their fight to prevent college loan interest rates from doubling this summer - hoping he'll again embrace an issue that was a political winner for him in 2012. The hunt for Obama's help comes with interest rates set to jump on July 1 - barring intervention by Congress - for a category of government student loans that millions of students rely upon. LINK

HEALTHCARE The Los Angeles Times' Noam N. Levey: " Healthcare an obstacle as Republicans court Latinos" As Republican leaders try to woo Latino voters with a new openness to legal status for the nation's illegal immigrants, the party remains at odds with America's fastest-growing ethnic community on another key issue: healthcare. Latinos, who have the lowest rates of health coverage in the country, are among the strongest backers of President Obama's healthcare law. LINK

SEQUESTER The Washington Post's David Fahrenthold and Lisa Rein: " Beef with the sequester? At least one federal program was able to beat it." The sequester was supposed to be something new in Washington: a budget cut you couldn't beat. Once it hit, it hit. The money was gone, and nobody could get it back. That turned out to be true - for about three weeks. Then somebody beat it. Last week, President Obama signed a spending bill that gave the Agriculture Department's food inspectors what everybody else wanted: a get-out-of-the-sequester card. Their program got $55 million in new money, which replaced almost all of what the sequester took. LINK

GUN CONTROL The Wall Street Journal's Patrick O'Connor and Sarah Portlock: "Path Opens for Gun-Control Bill to Reach Senate Floor" A Democratic gun-control measure moved closer to reaching the Senate floor Sunday when a high-profile Republican said he doesn't plan to join his party's efforts to block it. LINK